| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| catscharm74 |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 3:23:54 PM
To piggyback my food frustation, I decided to make a big leap to how I really want to live. I want things even more simple around here, more time to sew, teach Charlie, take care of myself and do things more environmentally friendly and healthy. I have been doing little things but I am ready to do the major overhaul. Things I will be working on over the next month:
1. Food- reference my food frustration thread.
2. Handmade/crafting more- I am really trying to limit the number of "plastic" stuff Charlie ends up with as toys. We usually do pretty good about buying better choices, but we ended up with a lot of presents with small parts and all plastic. I want to be more creative. I am going to attempt to make some play fruit/vegetables, a sock monkey and I have the materials to make a "tent" wall for Charlie to play under. I need some more ideas for things I can make for him. I am having a hard time finding this specifically for boys.
I have planned out 2 different apron patterns with material ideas that I would like to make and sell.
More creative, colorful house- I can't paint but my house is still a yawn to me. I like bright colors so I am working on incorporating more pops of color throughout the house. Also, I am re-painting my pictures frames in a nickel finish paint for a more chic and touch of metal throughout.
Started sketching out a painting on canvas with bright colors and flowers.
Getting a picture of Charlie and Hubby blown up in black and white for the bedroom. It with be a LARGE picture and I love it.
3. Health- get my backside moving even more. Now is the time. I really want to put in some challenging workouts. Walking is great and I have some toning in my legs but the weight ain't budging and I need to get moving. Also, I am working on doing daily maintenance- I don't want to become obsessive but I really have put myself on the back burner the past 2 years and I just want to feel better about me.
4. Lifestyle- still haven't found a clothesline for the apartment but I am determined to find one. Working on a weekly schedule to keep on track with the chores I do need to do and just get more done. I am actually slowing down a bit with school. I have crammed 3 years of school into 2 years and boy, I am exhausted. I need a break. I am also hoping that job comes through. It is 30 hours a week, which is enough to be worth the pay but won't drive me insane.
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| MsCwick |
Posted - May 25 2008 : 1:50:32 PM
http://www.startmakingchoices.com/index.jsp |
| Carolinagirl |
Posted - May 25 2008 : 06:06:38 AM
I just remembered I kept a huge container (Rubbermaid kind) filled with rice (very cheap!) and let my daughter play in it like sand. We had no place for a sandbox, and the rice worked just as well and could be played with inside. |
| kindacrunchymom |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 7:32:06 PM
Oh yeah, they have the cutest animals by schleich--they are plastic, though, but very well made. We started out with the bigger ones when Olivia was about 18 months old and then added smaller ones this year at Christmas. They have farm and other animals, and they are so realistic looking (and, um, the males are anatomically correct--not to be a prude, that is a little much for me just yet, so we mostly have females, lol!).
Oh, oh--if you like to order online, you HAVE to google Lauri toys!! They are made in the US, very reasonable, and Olivia has loved her stacking pegs since she was 2. Just wonderful stuff!
Farmmom to my 3 year old farm tot, and wife to a country boy!
To learn more about me, here is my blog:
http://mcadmom.wordpress.com/
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| catscharm74 |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 7:25:41 PM
Charlie is the big TWO!!! : ) Thanks for all the ideas. You are very creative Diane. I think this week I am just going to go with my creativity and do something fun and crafty for me and Charlie!!! And there is a tractor supply right up the road...oh yeah!! Might stop in tomorrow just for a look see!!!
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
| kindacrunchymom |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 7:18:59 PM
How old is Charlie?
I love Magic Cabin, Alee is right! I also like www.oompa.com and www.montessoriservices.com for toys.
I would tackle one thing at a time so that it doesn't get overwhelming. There are so many ways to go with it, and apartment life makes it much harder (like, we can compost so easily, a clothesline is a snap, etc, in a house--much harder in an apartment).
As far as homemade toys, we've made a felt board for Olivia and she loves it. You take a piece of wood and cover it with black or white felt. Then you cut shapes, animals, whatever, out of other colors of felt. They can create scenes, "draw" pictures and such with it.
We made a barn for Christmas and then bought lots of little animals from Tractor Supply, plus the cutest dolls:
I am by no means crafty compared to the talented folks on here, but I like to do simple things :)
Oh, things like beans or rice are great toys with funnels and scoops.
Farmmom to my 3 year old farm tot, and wife to a country boy!
To learn more about me, here is my blog:
http://mcadmom.wordpress.com/
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| catscharm74 |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 5:38:58 PM
Thanks Kim!! That is so funny because that is the other board I am looking at right now. HA!! Great minds think alike!!
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
| Carolinagirl |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 5:36:40 PM
I'd like to make more of my girls' toys also. Here are two places at the motheringdotcom forums- the first link is for the general board about making toys, and the second is a more specific one about making toys at home... Good luck!
Kim in NC
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=320
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=583443 |
| catscharm74 |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 5:28:41 PM
Far from together just realizing I need to make some major changes. One thing is Charlie does not watch a lot of tv but some here and there but lately he has been getting up in the morning and asking me to turn on the tv. YIKES!!! So I am going to nip that one in the bud NOW!!! And he has acts really unruly after watching something now, even though it can be a simple cartoon with no violence or anything and that is really scaring me. I do like my shows but I am seriously thinking that after my Lost episode next week, I am done with TV for the summer. I really am thinking of selling the darn thing and getting just a small flat screen for approved movies and the family videos we make. Plus, it would free up ALOT of room.
I checked out the distance to the little town down the road and it is about a mile and a half. I might get one of those bike trailers for Charlie (there are no hills right here) and take him more often and just walk, bike, walk, bike. I think I saw a bike rack somewhere down there. Need to check that one out. Anyone recommend a bike trailer that is safe???
Stuff- I have become very particular about what I collect. I love my milk bottle, enamel ware and my stars. I also have a lot of picture frames I like to change around. I wish I was someone who loved to collect things, but I am not, so I got rid of everything else.
I was on superdrive with school and my stress level got to be too much this semester. I felt pressured by the school to keep the pace but not with hubby being gone and everything else going on, I need to make some choices.
Health- seriously, I need to get in gear. I don't feel good most days, I feel like crap and I am only 34. I doing feel better in the self esteem area, a whole lot better but this is about health for me, not fitting into a certain size. I haven't felt "Good" in about 4 years now. I feel like my whole health system is shot. Need to get on this ASAP- not more waiting for Monday. Today I started- not off to the best start but a start none the less.
Creativity- big HUGE area that I let go over the past 6-8 years. Haven't really been creative at all. At this point, I was even just drawing with Charlie's crayons this morning. : )
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
| BarefootGoatGirl |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 5:08:58 PM
wow, heather! it sounds like you've really got it together. i'm sure you'll do great!
What we write today slipped into our souls some other day when we were alone and doing nothing.
-Brenda Ueland
http://quilandneedle.blogspot.com/
http://musingandmuttering.blogspot.com |
| Lavendar fields dreamer |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 4:59:51 PM
good for you heather your gonna do great.
i am gonna have to be your long distance improvement buddy.
i too want to get off my backside and work on things.
you could make charlie wooden cars and trucks and just plain blocks to build with my kids love to just build things and wooden blocks are just awesome
lavendar girl
http://lavendarfieldsdreamer.blogspot.com/ |
| graciegreeneyes |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 4:45:32 PM
Heather, good luck with your goals. I just sat down to look at a cookbook I haven't used since last summer and a list of goals I had written for myself fell out along with the steps I had planned to take to get there. I have actually accomplished two thirds of them which amazes me considering I forgot about my list. I just finished school last year - work full time and school full time and mom/wife full time - and I am still trying to simplify. It's like you get stuck on overdrive. My biggest thing is the number of stops I make after work. It seems like I run errands 4 days a week, and then have a 40 minute drive home.
Keep us posted on your simplification - I look forward to hearing a success story |
| Alee |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 4:35:07 PM
Oh Heather! I forgot to mention our Dollar Store (The Dollar Tree) has a lot of wall stickers that come off easily but not too easily. They have a lot of bright colored ones designed for kids. Do you have a Dollar Tree near by? We bought these for Nora's nursery since they can be peeled easily off apartment wall without damage to the paint.
They also have some really pretty and colorful wall borders for the rest of the house.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
| yarnmamma |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 4:33:35 PM
Good Heather. I am inspired. I am getting ready to move again, to another State.
I look forward to getting rid of so much "stuff". It is so cleansing to do that, even if it means starting over. So that is a simpler life for me.
I have made many handmade toys for my boy. 1. I made beanbag chairs, some with my own pattern. The store bought ones have an off-center design to sit on and that pattern can be found free online.
2.There are also large animals that can be stuffed and will be a piece of furniture to a little guy. I mean very large to sit on the floor. Draw your own simple animal on a newspaper and use it as a pattern. Put eyes out of buttons and some details with a permanent marker.
3. I have also enlarged simple pancake-style doll patterns and made it a boy doll who has yarn hair and wears size 2 or so clothes. Kids like dolls who wear their old clothes.
4. Toys and boxes can be made from plastic canvas. It could be done needlepoint or just whipped together at the ends without fancy stitches. Look in craft stores at patterns, don't buy the pattern just remember the simple design. I have made boxes open on the top..no lids... and graduated down in size so they fit inside each other. Even a big kid would use that.
5. Pillows can be made to look like a sports ball. Just use the colors and shape of the ball and make it softly stuffed because it will be thrown. :-)
6. There is also a pattern for, but may not need the pattern. They are big letters and spell what word you want. Usually the child's first name is liked.
Like a pillow shaped like a big
A
another one like a
B
I guess I am talking about stuffed things and pillows...LOL
****************
"NEVER underestimate the power of a woman."
farmgirl #71 Linda in PA |
| DearMildred |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 3:53:41 PM
Wow, Heather that all sounds great! Good for you!
My house is all bright colors, so that made me smile. It's always fun to find the perfect vintage steal somewhere, and to mix that with stuff you already have. For some reason I never get tired of messing with my house.
Paint always goes on sale on holiday weekends, but you probably already knew that. I will spring for Behr at Home Depot - I like it a little better than American Tradition at Lowe's - never used the stuff from Ace so can't compare there.
Keep us posted on how it goes!
~Amanda in OK~
Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered by your old nonsense. -Emerson |
| catscharm74 |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 3:30:10 PM
Thanks Alee!! I appreciate it.
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
| Alee |
Posted - May 24 2008 : 3:29:16 PM
Heather- if you are looking for some great imagination inspiring toys, check out www.magiccabin.com
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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